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9-25-13: Professor Torres press release

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Adam Emery
Adam Emery

SUNY Plattsburgh English Professor J.L. Torres will read from his debut novel "Accidental Native" on October 8th. The novel tells the story of Rennie, a second generation Puerto Rican who returns to Puerto Rico to bury his parents but discovers his biological mother is actually a high-powered attorney. She convinces him to move to Puerto Rico to teach, but he faces challenges with her strong personality, unhappy colleagues, squatters in his inherited house, striking students, and rumors of cancer from buried munitions on the former military base that is now the campus. Critics praise Torres for capturing Puerto Rican experiences returning home but also illuminating universal feelings of second generation Americans in similar situations.

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SUNY Plattsburgh English Professor Releases Debut Novel PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. (Sept. 25, 2013) ¡ª SUNY Plattsburgh English Department Professor J.L. Torreswill read from his new novel, ¡°Accidental Native,¡± on Tuesday, Oct. 8 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in Hawkins Hall¡¯s Krinovitz Recital Hall. A reception will follow at the North Country Cultural Center for the Arts from 7:30 to 9 p.m.. The event is free and open to the public. ¡°Accidental Native¡± tells the story of Rennie, a second generation Puerto Rican living in New York city, who returns to Puerto Rico to bury his parents. Shockingly, he discovers that his biological mother is actually a high-powered attorney named Julia, who, through offering a teaching job, convinces him to move to Puerto Rico. There, Rennie must confront myriad challenges, including Julia¡¯s strong-willed nature, a department chair not thrilled to have a Nuyorican on staff, squatters living in the house he inherited, students frequently on strike and a lover anxious to settle down. Most disturbing is the rumor that numerous faculty and staff are dying from cancer because the campus, a former U.S. military base, is full of buried munitions. Critics, such as the Booklist Starred Review, give praise to Torres¡¯ novel. ¡°Torres does capture the conflicts and challenges Puerto Ricans experience when returning to their homeland,¡± they comment,¡°but he reaches beyond the specific to the universal, illuminating the lives and feelings of any second-generation American in a similar situation.¡±
9-25-13: Professor Torres press release

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9-25-13: Professor Torres press release

  • 1. SUNY Plattsburgh English Professor Releases Debut Novel PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. (Sept. 25, 2013) ¡ª SUNY Plattsburgh English Department Professor J.L. Torreswill read from his new novel, ¡°Accidental Native,¡± on Tuesday, Oct. 8 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in Hawkins Hall¡¯s Krinovitz Recital Hall. A reception will follow at the North Country Cultural Center for the Arts from 7:30 to 9 p.m.. The event is free and open to the public. ¡°Accidental Native¡± tells the story of Rennie, a second generation Puerto Rican living in New York city, who returns to Puerto Rico to bury his parents. Shockingly, he discovers that his biological mother is actually a high-powered attorney named Julia, who, through offering a teaching job, convinces him to move to Puerto Rico. There, Rennie must confront myriad challenges, including Julia¡¯s strong-willed nature, a department chair not thrilled to have a Nuyorican on staff, squatters living in the house he inherited, students frequently on strike and a lover anxious to settle down. Most disturbing is the rumor that numerous faculty and staff are dying from cancer because the campus, a former U.S. military base, is full of buried munitions. Critics, such as the Booklist Starred Review, give praise to Torres¡¯ novel. ¡°Torres does capture the conflicts and challenges Puerto Ricans experience when returning to their homeland,¡± they comment,¡°but he reaches beyond the specific to the universal, illuminating the lives and feelings of any second-generation American in a similar situation.¡±